Govt invests further $2.1 million in community freshwater

The Government is investing a further $2.1
million to help communities improve New Zealand’s
freshwater quality, Environment Minister Amy Adams has
announced.

Ms Adams made the announcement at the
Bluegreens Forum in Kaikōura today.

“This further
investment adds to the Government’s strong commitment to
improving the quality of our freshwater, as we develop a
package of cohesive reform and clean-ups that will lead to
the more productive and sustainable use of our freshwater
resource within a generation,” Ms Adams says.

The
Government’s freshwater reform programme includes a
National Objectives Framework, national bottom lines for
freshwater, collaborative planning processes, better water
accounting, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to
clean-up historical contamination of our iconic
waterways.

“I know that many New Zealanders want
to play an active part in improving the quality of the water
in our local lakes and rivers.

“To encourage this,
today I am announcing the Government is allocating $1.1
million to a fund to support local water quality initiatives
that support the freshwater reforms.

Further information,
including how to apply for the funding, will be announced
shortly.

“As well as helping people take action to
improve freshwater quality, we also need to make sure the
activity is achieving results.

“So, a further $1
million will be targeted at enhancing the monitoring of
freshwater quality in New Zealand.

“A large
network of sites is currently used for assessing the state
of our rivers. These sites were established for a variety of
reasons, but the data collected is not necessarily
representative of the whole country.

“This money
will be used to improve the effectiveness of the monitoring,
enabling more representative and precise reporting on the
state of New Zealand’s freshwater.

“This will
also support the National-led Government’s environmental
reporting framework which will enhance New Zealanders’
understanding about the state of our environment.

“New Zealand is in the middle of ambitious freshwater
management reforms and this money will support regional
councils to involve their communities in taking action.

"At the same time we are ensuring that good information
is available to shape the decisions that communities need to
make about water quality in their
region.”

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